


A Little Bit Of Black Magic

by VoidofRoses



Series: Recovery [3]
Category: Legend of the Three Caballeros (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, José and Xandra friendship, M/M, helicopter mom Xandra, magic!José
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 13:22:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15842160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidofRoses/pseuds/VoidofRoses
Summary: José Carioca was many things. A coward, yes, a practitioner of black magic, yes. He was proud to be able to add friend to that list.





	A Little Bit Of Black Magic

**Author's Note:**

> José stress smokes. Xandra has been everywhere but not to Bahia. He is disappoint.

In a large house like the New Quackmore Institute, it was easy to get lost, especially when you didn’t know your way around quite yet. The three Caballeros had only been living in it for a few months after all, and with all the things that made it quite the museum, you could say you turned left at the marble world sculpture but wound up in a completely different bathroom.

It made it easy to avoid someone.

José Carioca would not say he was a coward – well, any more than he had been since long before the bus full of women had dropped him off at the doorstep of the cabana – but he would definitely be the first to admit that he was avoiding Donald. Felldrake locking him in a birdcage like a common parrot had stung his pride, especially when he had been transformed into such as a mockery of his handsome self.

His own black magic wasn’t that potent; it took time and preparation, and while he could do little things like size manipulation without much of either, a lot was dirty work. Had they been able to capture Felldrake, or indeed, realised what was happening, he may have been able to extract the sorcerer from Donald’s body. But no. Nothing of the sort had happened. Felldrake had slipped under his beak like a shadow and he hadn’t even realised that his friend was possessed.

Reasons why his pride had been hurt.

José Carioca was a lot of things, but the fact that he had failed his friend and left him under that dastardly villain’s control stung his heart.

The sunroom on the second floor of the Institute was the perfect place to reflect and think, leaning against the sill and letting the smoke from his cigar float out the window in perfect circle puffs. He was warm, reminded of the heat of Bahia as the sun went down, the feel of his feathers being ruffled by the breeze. José flicked ash from his cigar, staring down at his palm and rubbing it with the fingers of his other hands before the sound of the door opening made him jump, looking over his shoulder.

“So here you are.”

“Olá, Xandra.” He gestured to the goddess, inclining his head. “Come, join me.” The door clicking shut behind her, Xandra stepped further into the sunroom, opting to take a seat in the recliner rather than join José at the window, her long legs crossing one over the other. Looking at her, José shrugged, returning his attention to the window and the outside world. “Xandra, have you ever been to Bahia?”

“Bahia?” Xandra paused, thinking about it, before shaking her head. “No, can’t say I have. But that…”

“A shame. It’s beautiful this time of year. The sun, the waves, the breeze.”

“José.” The tone made him pause, unable to turn his head and look at her. “You’ve been avoiding Donald.” His shoulders hunched a bit, his head lowering as he took a drag of his cigar to lower the tension crawling up his spine, tail feathers flicking upward in indignation. “I know Felldrake locked you in a cage but that’s no reason to avoid him. He needs our help right now.”

“You do not understand.” Xandra looked at him from where she sat in her chair, uncrossing her legs and standing. It was strange, seeing the normally confident José looking like that. “I could have done something. If I had my wits about me, Donald might not have been subject to that _diabo’s_ torment. I couldn’t…” He close his eyes when he felt her hand on his back. “I couldn’t do anything.”

“How do you think I feel?” she asked softly, turning to lean against the window with her back and lowering herself down to the ground. “He’s _my_ sworn enemy and I didn’t even sense him in the Institute.” Xandra draped her arms over her knees as she pulled them up, pursing her lips together. “Then all of a sudden Donald pulled my bookmark from the Atlas and shut me in it.”

“He pulled the wool over both our eyes, my friend.” José tipped his hat forward as he joined her on the floor, crossing his legs rather than drawing them closer, leaning back against the wall. “Only Panchito saw otherwise.”

“Strange to think we owe Panchito of all people,” Xandra hummed, twisting some of her long black hair around her fingers. “But, José, you will need to be in the same room as Donald eventually. Sooner or later.”

“ _Sim, meu amigo_. I know.” Pressing the cigar to his beak, José took a deep drag, letting his shoulders pull forward with the movement, exhaling and resting his chin on his palm. “Let me figure out how to make it up to him.”

“We’ll do it together.”

He smiled at her. “I’d like that.”

—————————-

It took an accident.

The kitchen had been lively for once, the Caballeros and their goddess now able to eat without worrying about food or groceries. Panchito had been slaving over the stove for a good few hours, cooking them a large feast worthy of his homeland, Xandra and José sitting next to each other while Donald sat a further distance from them, obviously uncomfortable. It sort of broke Xandra’s heart in a way, seeing the way her Caballeros avoided looking at or touching or even brushing against each other when just the other week they had been celebrating his recovery from the coma Felldrake’s banishment had put him into.

Donald left his drink and got up to walk over to the rooster at something Panchito had commented about, rolling his sleeves up to jokingly shove Panchito while Xandra and José shared a look. Felldrake might have escaped their notice but they both saw the fond look passed between the two, and José opened his mouth to say something before his eyes fell on Donald’s drink.

The spoon in the mug was still stirring from where Donald had left it in, a warm blue glow tinged with purple around it. Noticing him looking, Xandra followed his gaze and spoke up. “Ah, Donald…?”

“What?” The duck turned around from where he had his fellow Caballero in a headlock, his eyes glancing to where they were looking and let out a curse in his raspy voice. He immediately dropped Panchito from his hold, leaving him to pick himself up as he fled over, hands clamping around the mug and the glow disappearing. He grimaced, beak twisting and closing his eyes, waiting for the berating to start. “I..I’m sorry…that…”

José sucked in a breath, shaking his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Donal’.” Getting up, he closed the distance between them, placing his hand gingerly but gently on top of Donald’s. “This? _This_ is something I can help you with, my friend. If you will let me that is.”

Eyes opened, looking at him with shame and uncertainty, a feeling that José could relate to. The amount of shame that he had felt as a young boy for his magic had caused him to hide it, before he became the man he was now, unashamed in who he was and what he could do. He looked at Donald, searching for the signal that it was okay, that everything that had happened while Felldrake has been in control could be put past them.

“Okay.”

José Carioca was many things. A coward, yes, a practitioner of black magic, yes. He was proud to be able to add friend to that list.


End file.
